Belgian-Dutch drug ring caught on Samui

[landofsmiles]

SURAT THANI: -- Four foreign nationals have been arrested on drug trafficking charges in Koh Samui off Surat Thani province while one other remains at large, a senior Thai police said Thursday.

Commander of the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau Pol. Lt-Gen. Wut Liptapallop said the four were rounded up by police at a house in Koh Samui but their suspected leader, a Belgian national named Lotha Gabriel, had escaped arrest and was believed to be hiding out somewhere in the popular island resort.

The four were identified as Ronald Koornwinder, 46, and Paulus Meyer, 44, from the Netherlands; and Koen Van Staay, 30, and Kelly Cautereels, 25, from Belgium. Ms. Cautereels is the only woman in the group.

The police seized their cars and found several bank account books in their possession with combined deposits of about Bt100 million.

Gen. Wut said the local banks on Koh Samui will be asked to freeze the drug suspects' accounts including any others which may not have been found in the police raid, conducted with the help of tips from the Belgian police.

The foreigners had reportedly bought expensive plots of land and houses on the island resort, allegedly with the drug money, according to the narcotics police chief.

The foreign suspects led by Mr. Gabriel, for whom the police launched a manhunt on Koh Samui and nearby areas, had allegedly trafficked 200 kilogrammes of marijuana and heroin worth about five billion baht (100 million euros) last year, he added.

--TNA 2007-10-19

About 50 police, including nine from Belgium, raided four houses in a five-rai compound of tambon Boh Pud early yesterday, said Pol Maj-Gen Wut. As police waited for maids to lock up fierce guard dogs, the suspects scaled the backyard fence and tried to flee into the mountain, only to meet waiting policemen. Police could not find the leader identified as Lota Gariel, a Belgian who runs a kick-boxing establishment. Police seized four cars and bank passbooks with deposits totalling more than 100 million baht. A source in the local tourism business said Koh Samui has become a bustling mafia hub. Earlier this year, four members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang and four Thai accomplices were arrested. In March, John Fowler, 57, was arrested for masterminding the biggest robbery in British criminal history had bought an expensive house on Koh Samui.

[steve w]

ha ha ..............deserve what ever they get if guilty

[Captain]

Drugs trafficking happened in Belgium (importing drugs ex Thailand for an amount of 105M Euro). They escaped arrest after Belgian police found 125 kg heroin, 200 kg cocain and 350 tons marijuana and fled to Thailand. 9 Belgian police officers were in Thailand helping. Belgium asked extradition. So there is a chance Thailand will put them on a plane to Belgium.